Peavey Mart is installing electric vehicle charging stations at all its 30 locations, including this one at Red Deer, which is becoming popular with...more

Peavey Mart is installing electric vehicle charging stations at all its 30 locations, including this one at Red Deer, which is becoming popular with electric car owners travelling between Edmonton and Calgary.

RED DEER, Alta. — Customers of Peavey Mart are getting a charge out of the Red Deer-based hardware and farm supplies retailer now that it is installing electric vehicle power stations at all of its stores.

The company has already opened six charging stations and announced a commitment Wednesday to install others throughout its network of 30 mostly rural stores in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba. All but two of the company’s stores are in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The retailer says it is offering the charging stations as a free public service.

“We figured we already had parking stalls for every customer who drives a gas vehicle, but we really had nothing, and nobody else had anything to offer, to the electric customer,” said Jest Sidloski, manager of training and development for Peavey Industries.

“Granted, they’re few and far between now but we believe the technology is going there so we want to make sure we are providing that, so any customer can come and park in our parking lot and shop in our stores.”

A charging station has been operating for about a month at the Red Deer Peavey Mart. It is already proving to be popular because it’s in the middle of the busy Edmonton-Calgary corridor.

“In Red Deer, we’ve been seeing quite a few electric cars stop by, mainly cars going from Edmonton to Calgary and vice-versa. They’re stopping for about a half-hour just to give them that extra few miles,” said Sidloski.

While there are no Peavey Marts in Edmonton, a charging station is expected to come online at the Leduc location by the end of June and others are planned for Spruce Grove and Westlock by year’s end.

Installing a charger can run in the thousands of dollars and the machine can cost up to a thousand dollars, but a two-hour charge will only cost the company a few dollars, Sidloski said.

Peavey Mart has become partners with Sun Country Highway, a Saskatoon-based company that has installed several hundred charging stations across Canada. The companies have had a long relationship as Peavey Mart sells bird seed from Sun Country Farms, the company’s other division.

Sun Country completed a project in 2012 to place free stations at businesses such as hotels and restaurants along the Trans-Canada Highway.

Sun Country president Kent Rathwell said Peavey Mart is the first retailer in Canada that has committed to installing stations at all of its locations.

“It really helps electrify a lot of the highways in Alberta,” Rathwell said.

Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick are the only two jurisdictions in the world to have all highways equipped with high-powered Level 2 electric-vehicle infrastructure, he said.

“Alberta, with a few more stations, could be the third governing region in the world to have 90- to 100-per-cent of its highways green, which would put them ahead of California and all European countries,” Rathwell said.

Rathwell estimates there are about 100 electric vehicles in Alberta and he expects that number to rise ten-fold by year’s end.

“I know in the other provinces, Quebec is leading the charge for the most EVs, then Ontario and B.C. But now with what Peavey has done, and a few more locations across Alberta, we can launch Alberta ahead of B.C., Ontario and Quebec in regards to highway electrification.”

“The number of electric cars and charging stations is clearly growing,” said Doug Anderson, president of Peavey Industries. “By adding charging stations, we’re increasing the capacity for people and helping make electric cars more of an option.”

Capri Rasmussen, who owns a Tesla Roadster electric car with her husband, was one of the first to use the Red Deer Peavey Mart during a recent trip to Edmonton from her home in Calgary.

“It’s really progressive and really kind,” Rasmussen said of the retailer’s initiative. “We went shopping there so it’s smart for them and it also gives them customers and potentially some profile.”

She charges her car, which has a range of about 360 km, at home or uses a free smartphone app to find public charging stations.

“You have such a good range on it that day-to-day driving is no problem. Longer trips would be a concern but we make it to Edmonton and back. We charge before we go, top up in Red Deer and charge in Edmonton.”